Patricia Sue Dobbins

1932 - 2019

Patricia Sue Dobbins, 86, of Pittsfield, died Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at Blessing Hospital in Quincy while in the arms of family.

Pat was born Oct. 9, 1932, in Gilmer County, W.Va., to the late Shirley Nye Sumpter and Sylvia Anna Mealey Sumpter. She married Daniel A. Dobbins on March 24, 1956, at St. Boniface Church in Leading Creek, W.Va. He preceded her in death March 4, 2018.

Pat graduated as the class valedictorian from Burnsville High School, Burnsville, W.Va., in 1950. She completed her first year of college at Salem College, Salem, W.Va., attending on scholarship. The following year she worked as a secretary at a furniture and appliance store in her hometown of Burnsville to earn money to continue her education. In 1955 she graduated magna cum laude from Glenville State College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. Pat met her husband, Dan, while attending Glenville State. The couple started dating after they were voted Lil' Abner and Daisy Mae at the college's annual Sadie Hawkins Day her junior year.

After her college graduation, Pat was employed at Gassaway High School in Gassaway, W.Va., teaching shorthand and typing.

After she and Dan married and started their family, she became a full-time homemaker and was devoted to her family. When her children got older, she returned to the workforce first as a substitute teacher for Pike County, Ill., area schools, then as a librarian at Pittsfield Public Library from 1975 until her retirement in 1997. She continued to enjoy lunches with the retired librarians until the time of her death.

Pat had a great love for her family and especially enjoyed her time with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was an enthusiastic lifelong reader and was always surrounded with reading material. She enjoyed writing, especially poetry and journaling, working crossword and jigsaw puzzles, researching genealogy and collecting paperweights. Pat was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pittsfield. She joined the Catholic faith on Easter Sunday, 2001.

Pat is survived by her daughters, Loretta (Steve) Grote and Michelle (John) Westbrook, both of Pittsfield; her sons, Daniel (Mickey) Dobbins of O'Fallon, Ill., and Brian (Mary) Dobbins of Springfield, Ill.; her sisters, Janita Hawkins of Painesville, Ohio, and Linda Sanders of Canvas, W.Va.; her brothers, Gary Sumpter of Madison, W.Va., and Mike Sumpter of Pelhem, Ala.; eight grandchildren and three great-grandsons loved and will miss their Nana: Paul, Nick and Daniel Grote; Jacob Westbrook; Allison Schaal; Ben and Joe Dobbins; and Debbie Kramer; and great grandsons, Owen Schaal, Camden Kramer and Lincoln Grote.

Condolences may be expressed online at whig.com.